Russia Officially Found Responsible for MH17, Wong Hails ‘Historic Moment'
The passenger flight from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur was carrying 298 passengers and crew, including 38 Australian nationals, when a surface-to-air missile exploded near the cockpit, severely damaging the plane and causing its rapid descent.
Since 2018, it has been Australia's official position that Russia was responsible for the destruction of the flight.
The International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) Council in Montreal has now announced Russia is responsible under international law for the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17.
Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong has now urged Russia to take responsibility for the missile that brought the plane down.
'This is a historic moment in the pursuit of truth, justice and accountability for the victims of the downing of Flight MH17, and their families and loved ones,' Wong said in a statement.
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Minister for Foreign Affairs Penny Wong during Senate Estimates at Parliament House in Canberra, Australia on Feb. 27, 2025.
AAP Image/Mick Tsikas
'The ICAO Council found that Russia breached the prohibition under international law on the use of weapons against civil aircraft in flight and is responsible for the loss of 298 innocent lives, including 38 who called Australia home.
'In reaching its decision, the ICAO Council has upheld the fundamental principle that weapons should not be used against civil aircraft.'
In 2022, Australia and the Netherlands brought a case before the ICAO regarding Russia's involvement in the downed flight.
'The Australian government welcomes the ICAO Council's decision and urges it to move swiftly to determine remedies for this violation,' Wong said.
'We call upon Russia to finally face up to its responsibility for this horrific act of violence and make reparations for its egregious conduct, as required under international law.
'Our thoughts remain with those who lost their lives as a result of Russia's actions, their families and loved ones. While we cannot take away the grief of those left behind, we will continue to stand with them in that grief and pursue justice for this horrific act.'
Despite the finding, ICAO does not hold enforcement power.
In 2016, the Dutch Safety Board determined the missile that downed the plane was shot from pro-Russian separatist-controlled territory in Ukraine, with the Buk missile originating from Russia.
The Russian government has so far denied responsibility.
At the time of the incident, the region was engulfed in an armed conflict between Ukrainian government forces and Russian-backed separatists.
In 2014, pro-European Union protests led to the ousting of Russian-backed President Viktor Yanukovych, before Russia annexed the Crimean peninsula.
Pro-Russian separatists had also declared independence in parts of eastern Ukraine, leading to war with the government of Ukraine.
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San Francisco Chronicle
13 minutes ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
Putin emerges from the Alaska summit with increased stature and Trump echoing a Kremlin position
In Alaska, President Vladimir Putin walked on a red carpet, shook hands and exchanged smiles with his American counterpart. Donald Trump ended the summit praising their relationship and calling Russia 'a big power ... No. 2 in the world,' albeit admitting they didn't reach a deal on ending the war in Ukraine. By Saturday morning Moscow time, Trump appeared to have abandoned the idea of a ceasefire as a step toward peace -– something he and Ukraine had pushed for months -– in favor of pursuing a full-fledged 'Peace Agreement" to end the war, echoing a long-held Kremlin position. The 'severe consequences' he threatened against Moscow for continuing hostilities were nowhere in sight. On Ukraine's battlefields, Russian troops slowly grinded on, with time on their side. The hastily arranged Alaska summit 'produced nothing for Mr. Trump and gave Mr. Putin most of what he was looking for,' said Laurie Bristow, a former British ambassador to Russia. The summit spectacle Putin's visit to Alaska was his first to the United States in 10 years and his first to a Western country since invading Ukraine in 2022 and plunging U.S.-Russia relations to the lowest point since the Cold War. Crippling sanctions followed, along with efforts to shun Russia on the global stage. In another major blow, the International Criminal Court in 2023 issued an arrest warrant against Putin on accusations of war crimes, casting a shadow on his foreign trips and contacts with other world leaders. Trump's return to the White House appeared to upend all that. He warmly greeted Putin, even clapping for him, on a red carpet as U.S. warplanes flew overhead as the world watched. The overflight was both 'a show of power' and a gesture of welcome from the U.S. president to the Kremlin leader, 'shown off to a friend,' said retired Col. Peer de Jong, a former aide to two French presidents and author of 'Putin, Lord of War.' Russian officials and media reveled in the images of the 'pomp-filled reception' and 'utmost respect' that Putin received in Alaska. Putin has 'broken out of international isolation,' returning to the world stage as one of two global leaders and 'wasn't in the least challenged' by Trump, who ignored the arrest warrant for Putin from the ICC, Bristow told The Associated Press. For Putin, 'mission accomplished' Putin 'came to the Alaska summit with the principal goal of stalling any pressure on Russia to end the war,' said Neil Melvin, director of international security at the London-based Royal United Services Institute. 'He will consider the summit outcome as mission accomplished.' In recent months, Trump has pressed for a ceasefire, something Ukraine and its allies supported and insisted was a prerequisite for any peace talks. The Kremlin has pushed back, however, arguing it's not interested in a temporary truce -– only in a long-term peace agreement. Moscow's official demands for peace so far have remained nonstarter for Kyiv: It wants Ukraine to cede four regions that Russia only partially occupies, along with the Crimean Peninsula, illegally annexed in 2014. Ukraine also must renounce its bid to join NATO and shrink its military, the Kremlin says. After Alaska, Trump appeared to echo the Kremlin's position on a ceasefire, posting on social media that after he spoke to Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and European leaders, 'it was determined by all that the best way to end the horrific war between Russia and Ukraine is to go directly to a Peace Agreement, which would end the war, and not a mere Ceasefire Agreement, which often times do not hold up.' In a statement after the Trump call, the European leaders did not address whether a peace deal was preferable to a ceasefire. The pro-Kremlin tabloid Komsomolskaya Pravda described it as a 'huge diplomatic victory' for Putin, whose forces will have time to make more territorial gains. The summit took place a week after a deadline Trump gave the Kremlin to stop the war or face additional sanctions on its exports of oil in the form of secondary tariffs on countries buying it. Trump already imposed those tariffs on India, and if applied to others, Russian revenues 'would probably be impacted very badly and very quickly,' said Chris Weafer, CEO of Macro-Advisory Ltd. consultancy. In the days before Alaska, Trump also threatened unspecified 'very severe consequences' if Putin does not agree to stop the war. But whether those consequences will materialize remains unclear. Asked about it in a post-summit interview with Fox News Channel, Trump said he doesn't need 'to think about that right now,' and suggested he might revisit the idea in 'two weeks or three weeks or something.' Alexandra Prokopenko of the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center and a former adviser at the Russian Central Bank, posted on X that it was 'an important tactical victory for Putin' that gives Moscow 'an opportunity to build alternatives and be prepared.' More pressure on Ukraine In a statement after the summit, Putin claimed the two leaders had hammered out an 'understanding' on Ukraine and warned Europe not to 'torpedo the nascent progress.' But Trump said 'there's no deal until there's a deal.' In his Fox interview, Trump insisted the onus going forward might be on Zelenskyy 'to get it done,' but said there would also be some involvement from European nations. Zelenskyy will meet Trump at the White House on Monday. Both raised the possibility of a trilateral summit with Putin, but Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said it wasn't discussed in Alaska. The Kremlin has long maintained that Putin would only meet Zelenskyy in the final stages of peace talks. 'Trump now appears to be shifting responsibility towards Kyiv and Europe, while still keeping a role for himself,' Tatiana Stanovaya of the Carnegie Russia and Eurasia Center wrote on X. Fiona Hill, a senior adviser on Russia in his first administration, told AP that Trump has met his match because 'Putin is a much bigger bully.' Trump wants to be the negotiator of 'a big real estate deal between Russia and Ukraine,' she said, but in his mind he can 'apply real pressure' only to one said — Kyiv. Hill said she expects Trump to tell Zelenskyy that 'you're really going to have to make a deal' with Putin because Trump wants the conflict off his plate and is not prepared to put pressure on the Russian president. Far from the summit venue and its backdrop saying 'Pursuing Peace,' Russia continued to bombard Ukraine and make incremental advances on the over 600-mile (1,000-kilometer) front. Russia fired a ballistic missile and 85 drones overnight. Ukraine shot down or intercepted 61 drones, its air force said. Front-line areas of Sumy, Dnipropetrovsk, Donetsk and Chernihiv were attacked. Russia's Defense Ministry said it had taken control of the village of Kolodyazi in the Donetsk region, along with Vorone in the Dnipropetrovsk region. Ukraine did not comment on the claims. Russian forces are closing in on the strongholds of Pokrovsk and Kostiantynivka in the Donetsk region, which Moscow illegally annexed in 2022 but still only partially controls. 'Unless Mr. Putin is absolutely convinced that he cannot win militarily, the fighting is not going to stop," said Bristow, the former ambassador. "That's the big takeaway from the Anchorage summit.' ——
New York Post
13 minutes ago
- New York Post
Zelensky warns Putin will step up attacks on Ukraine, as strongman tries to gain leverage in peace talks
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says Russia could intensify its aerial attacks on Kyiv in the wake of high-stakes talks between President Trump and Vladimir Putin — as the strongman seeks to gain leverage at the negotiating table. The warning comes a day after the bilateral summit in Alaska, which failed to yield a cease-fire, and with news of Zelensky's planned trip to Washington, DC on Monday to meet with Trump. 6 Zelensky is getting ready to fly to Washington to meet with President Trump Monday. Ray Tang/Shutterstock Advertisement 'Based on the political and diplomatic situation around Ukraine, and knowing Russia's treachery, we anticipate that in the coming days the Russian army may try to increase pressure and strikes against Ukrainian positions in order to create more favorable political circumstances for talks with global actors,' Zelensky wrote on X Saturday. This comes as the Ukrainian military said that Russian troops have occupied two additional villages Saturday in the eastern region of Donetsk. 6 Zelensky warned that Russia may intensify its attacks in the coming days. REUTERS Advertisement Donetsk, one of the partly Russian-occupied territories in Ukraine, has become a key battleground in recent months. Putin reportedly told US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff last week that he'd be willing to end his nearly three-year-old invasion of Ukraine in exchange for Donetsk and doubled down this week, saying he wants Ukraine to withdraw from the remaining 30% of the region it controls as part of any cease-fire deal. 6 Fighting in the Donetsk region has intensified in recent months. Getty Images Zelensky said fighting in Donetsk remains 'extremely difficult' but that his forces have made some successful counterattacks. Advertisement 'We are defending our positions along the entire front line, and for the second day in a row, we have achieved successes in some extremely difficult areas in the Donetsk region,' Zelensky wrote. 6 Troops from both sides have been exchanging fire in the Donetsk region. Getty Images Hours before the Alaska summit, Russian air strikes killed at least six Ukrainian civilians and injured at least 17, including a child, local authorities reported — as Moscow launched close to 100 drones and two missiles. 'On the day of negotiations, the Russians are killing as well. And that speaks volumes,' Zelensky posted on Friday. Advertisement 'The war continues…It continues exactly because there is no order, nor any signals that Moscow is preparing to end this war.' 6 Friday's Alaska summit between Trump and Putin failed to reach a cease-fire deal. Getty Images Zelensky announced his scheduled White House visit after he spoke on the phone for nearly two hours with Trump, who was on board Air Force One while heading back from Anchorage.
Los Angeles Times
43 minutes ago
- Los Angeles Times
Ukraine's Zelensky to meet Trump in D.C. on Monday after inconclusive summit
KYIV, Ukraine — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will meet Monday in Washington with President Trump, who has shifted to saying that an overall peace agreement — and not a ceasefire — is the next step in ending the 3½-year-old war. Trump's abrupt reversal, aligning himself with a position held by Russian President Vladimir Putin, came in a social media post Saturday, hours after they concluded a summit in Alaska that produced no agreement to halt the fighting. Putin has long said that Moscow is not interested in a temporary truce and instead is seeking a long-term settlement that takes the Kremlin's interests into account. After calls with Zelensky and European leaders, Trump posted that 'it was determined by all that the best way to end the horrific war between Russia and Ukraine is to go directly to a Peace Agreement, which would end the war, and not a mere Ceasefire Agreement, which often times do not hold up.' In a statement after the Trump call, the European leaders did not address whether a peace deal was preferable to a ceasefire, saying that they 'welcomed President Trump's efforts to stop the killing in Ukraine, end Russia's war of aggression, and achieve just and lasting peace.' Trump and Ukraine's European allies had been calling for a ceasefire ahead of any negotiations. Trump's statement that a peace agreement should be reached before a ceasefire appears to indicate the U.S. president's thinking is 'shifting towards Putin,' an approach that would allow Moscow to keep fighting while negotiating, said Nigel Gould-Davies, a senior fellow at the International Institute of Strategic Studies in London. Zelensky, who was not invited to Alaska for the summit, said he had a 'long and substantive' conversation with Trump early Saturday. He said they would 'discuss all of the details regarding ending the killing and the war' on Monday. It will be Zelensky's first visit to the U.S. since Trump berated him publicly as being 'disrespectful' during an extraordinary Oval Office meeting on Feb. 28. Trump, who also held calls with European leaders Saturday, confirmed Monday's White House meeting and said that 'if all works out, we will then schedule a meeting with President Putin.' Trump rolled out the red carpet Friday for Putin, who was in the U.S. for the first time in a decade and since the start of his full-scale invasion of Ukraine. But he gave little concrete detail afterward of what was discussed. On Saturday, he posted on social media that it 'went very well.' Trump had warned ahead of the summit of 'very severe consequences' for Russia if Putin didn't agree to end the war. Zelensky reiterated the importance of involving European leaders, who also were not invited to the summit. 'It is important that Europeans are involved at every stage to ensure reliable security guarantees together with America,' he said. 'We also discussed positive signals from the American side regarding participation in guaranteeing Ukraine's security.' He didn't elaborate, but Zelensky previously has said that European partners put on hold a proposal to establish a foreign troop presence in Ukraine to deter Russian aggression because it lacked an American backstop. Zelensky said he spoke to Trump one-on-one and then in a call with other European leaders. In total, the conversations lasted more than 90 minutes. Trump said in Alaska that 'there's no deal until there's a deal,' after Putin claimed the two leaders had hammered out an 'understanding' on Ukraine and warned Europe not to 'torpedo the nascent progress.' During an interview with Fox News Channel before returning to Washington, Trump insisted the onus going forward might be on Zelensky 'to get it done,' but said there would also be some involvement from European nations. In their statement after speaking to Trump, major European leaders said they were ready to work with Trump and Zelenskyy toward 'a trilateral summit with European support.' The statement from French, German, Italian, British, Finnish, Polish and European Union leaders said that 'Ukraine must have ironclad security guarantees' and welcomed U.S. readiness to provide them. 'It will be up to Ukraine to make decisions on its territory,' they said. 'International borders must not be changed by force.' EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said that 'the harsh reality is that Russia has no intention of ending this war anytime soon,' noting that Moscow launched new attacks on Ukraine even as the delegations met. 'Putin continues to drag out negotiations and hopes he gets away with it. He left Anchorage without making any commitments to end the killing,' she said. Ukrainian and Russian forces are fighting along a 600-mile front line. Since spring, Russian troops have accelerated their gains, capturing the most territory since the opening stages of the war. 'Vladimir Putin came to the Alaska summit with the principal goal of stalling any pressure on Russia to end the war,' said Neil Melvin, director of international security at the London-based Royal United Services Institute. 'He will consider the summit outcome as mission accomplished.' Zelensky voiced support for Trump's proposal for a trilateral meeting with the U.S. and Russia. He said that 'key issues can be discussed at the level of leaders, and a trilateral format is suitable for this.' But Putin's foreign affairs advisor, Yuri Ushakov, said on Russian state television Saturday that the idea of a three-way meeting 'has not been touched upon yet' in U.S.-Russia discussions. Zelensky wrote on X that he told Trump that 'sanctions should be strengthened if there is no trilateral meeting or if Russia tries to evade an honest end to the war.' In apparent effort to bolster Zelensky's hand before he meets Trump, France, the U.K. and Germany will co-host a video call Sunday afternoon of so-called 'coalition of the willing' nations that could, in one way or another, help monitor and uphold any deal to end fighting, French President Emmanuel Macron's office said. Russian officials and media struck a largely positive tone after Friday's summit, with some describing it as a symbolic end to Putin's isolation in the West. Former President Dmitry Medvedev, deputy head of Russia's Security Council, praised the summit as a breakthrough in restoring high-level dialogue between Moscow and Washington, describing the talks as 'calm, without ultimatums and threats.' Putin has 'broken out of international isolation' and back on the world stage as one of two global leaders, and 'wasn't in the least challenged' by Trump, who also ignored an arrest warrant issued for Putin by the International Criminal Court, said Laurie Bristow, who was British ambassador to Russia from 2016 to 2020. 'Unless Mr. Putin is absolutely convinced that he cannot win militarily, the fighting is not going to stop,' Bristow told the Associated Press. 'That's the big takeaway from the Anchorage summit.' Kullab and Morton write for the Associated Press and reported from Kyiv and London, respectively. AP writers Geir Moulson in Berlin and Emma Burrows in London contributed to this report.
